Chapter 1
"Come on, Elena, get out of the house. You need to meet people," my aunt Jenna said. We had just moved to the small town of Mystic Falls, Virginia, a month ago. During that month, all I had done was unpack and organize. I missed my parents and our home in Chicago. They were killed in a car accident, leaving me and my older brother Jeremy in the care of my mom's sister, Jenna.
Jenna was great, and we had always been close. Having her here was the only thing that got me through my parents' death. Now, she was trying to convince me that I needed to go out and meet people, before I start my junior year of high school in two weeks.
"Jenna, I don't want to go out, I'm tired," I tried, hoping that she would take pity on me and let the subject drop.
"Fine, but tomorrow, you are going out, and I don't want to hear any complaints," she said in a you-have-no-choice kind of way.
"Fine, if you will leave me alone, I'll go out and meet people, be social. That does not mean, however, that I will enjoy it."
"Yay!"
When I woke up the next day, I was immediately bombarded by the dread that came with the thought of having to go out and meet people. Since my parents died, I have closed myself off. I used to be the party girl, but once my parents stopped living, so did I. NO more, I will start living again. New town, new me, or at least, that's what I keep telling myself to get through it.
I decided to get up and unpack my room some more, especially since I had to find an outfit for tonight, meaning that I would have to go shopping. If I had to go out and meet people, than I would meet people that I would never have to see again (nobody had to see my reintroduction into life. Tonight was all for me, tomorrow I could talk to real people)
I love loopholes.
The music was loud and the entire place was dimly lit. I was in a little bar about fifty miles away from Mystic falls, away from anyone that would see me again after tonight, unless I decided to come back, which if Jenna pushes me again, I would be back.
I was so caught up in my thoughts and just wondering how long I should stay when suddenly someone was talking in my ear.
"What's a pretty thing like you doing in this bar ball alone?" a male voice said.
I turned around and froze. The voice in question belonged to the most gorgeous man that I had ever seen. He had black hair, beautiful blue eyes, and a smirk that made my heart do flips.
"How is that any of your business?" I asked, surprised by how steady my voice was.
"It's not, but it should be. My name is-"he started, but I quickly interrupted him, needing to make sure that he understood what I was looking for.
"No, I don't need a name. How about we just have fun, no names, or strings, attached," I said, deciding that if I had to be out, I might as well do something I haven't done in a while.
"Okay then, mystery girl, what did you have in mind?"
"How about we get out of here, go to the motel a few miles away, and not talk for a very long time?" I said, deciding to go all out, get it out of my system, and then go back to reality and forget that this ever happened.
"Okay," he replied, clearly shocked at my proposition.
"Well then, let's go."
We got into our respective cars, and he followed me to the motel. I got the room and gestured for him to follow me. When we go to the room, I slipped off my black dress and stilettos, and he took off his clothes, and then I couldn't wait any longer. He was about to take off his pants, when I kissed him. He immediately kissed me back, and then, we didn't hold back.
"Wait," he said,"condom."
"Okay, hurry." He went to get one out of his pants that had at some point ended up on the floor, and I waited, my breathing heavy.
In no time he was back and then, there was no stopping us.
Chapter 2
The next morning, I was in my own room, and after a few seconds, I remembered what I did the night before.
"Oh, God, why?" I asked myself.
I let myself host a pity party for a few minutes, and then decided to pull my head out of my ass and just not think about it. It was over, and I don't need to think about it, there was no reason to.
I got out of bed and took a shower, then got dressed and went downstairs to get something to eat.
"Hey Lena," my brother Jeremy said when he saw me.
"Hey Jer, what's up?"
"Nothing really, want some pancakes?"
"Sure, as long as you make them."
"Trust me, I will never ask you to cook again."
"Thank you," I said, not at all offended by my lack of cooking skills and his knowledge of their nonexistence. The memory of the last time I tried to cook and the memory of the food poisoning that I gave everyone that ate it, including myself.
After we ate, I decide to go back to school shopping, and yelled bye to Jeremy and Jenna.
I went to a cute boutique and entertained myself for a while, trying on things. After an hour, a couple of girls came and started looking at clothes. When they saw me, they looked at each other and then headed over towards me.
"Hi, you're Elena right?" The Blond one asked.
"Yeah," I said wearily.
"I'm Caroline, and this is Bonnie. We will be going to school with you."
"Oh, okay. It was nice meeting you," I said figuring that they weren't really that interested in meeting me, but were just really nice.
"Hey, when we are all done, do you want to go to lunch with us?" Bonnie asked.
"Sure, I'd love to."
"Great!" Caroline exclaimed, clearly excited for some reason.
We talked while we shopped, learning about and getting to know each other. I found that I really enjoyed their company and was actually hoping that we could all become really good friends.
Afterward, we went to the popular place to eat, The Mystic Grill, or as everyone here calls it, The Grill.
I ordered a burger and fries, and was shocked at how good they were. Caroline, Bonnie, and I got along really well, and were planning to have a sleepover at Caroline's house tonight. I really liked these girls, and was excited to spend more time with them.
I called Jenna and told her that I made a couple of new friends, which of course she was thrilled about, and told me to call her the next day. Then, the three of us paid for our food, and went to Caroline's house.
Chapter 3
The next two weeks flew by thanks to Caroline and Bonnie. The three of us quickly became inseparable, always at one another's houses, sleeping over and talking. I really enjoyed hanging out with them.
Unfortunately, now it was time to start school. Today was the first day of my junior year. I was almost ready; all I had to do was grab my stuff. Caroline was picking me up and I was so grateful for her being my friend.
HONK! HONK!
"Bye Jenna, Caroline's here!"
"Bye sweetie, have a good day!"
Caroline, Bonnie and I quickly fell into a routine, and the first month of school passed by in a blur. I honestly couldn't even tell you who is in the school aside from Caroline and Bonnie. I have finally started to find my way around school and tonight Caroline, Bonnie, and I are going to the first football game of the season.
First, we had to go to the pep rally, according to Caroline. I was excited about going; I'd never been to an actual pep rally before.
We were sitting in the bleachers, waiting for the football players to come out onto the field, when music started playing and everyone started cheering. All of the sudden, the football players ran onto the field. I was all smiles until I saw him, the guy from the bar. What the hell?
"Caroline, who is that? The guy at the end of the line," I asked, trying to keep my voice even.
"That's Damon Salvatore, the captain, and the world's hottest junior. Haven't you noticed him?"
"No, I haven't."
"Well, now you have, and I must say, good eye."
"Excuse me," I said, because all of the sudden sick to my stomach. Thankfully, we were on the bottom row of the bleachers, and I was able to get out of sight before I threw up everything I had eaten today.
"Elena, are you okay?" I heard Caroline say behind me.
"Yeah, I'm just going to walk home, but please tell how everything here goes."
"Are you sure that you don't want me to drive you?"
"Yeah, I'm sure. Thank you though."
"Okay, well I'll call you tonight. Feel better Lena."
"Thanks Care. I'll talk to you later."
I hurried out off of the school campus, slowing when I could no longer see the school.
How the hell could this happen? He was supposed to be a one night fling, and then I would never have to see him again. I didn't learn his name for a reason. He was just my initiation into the world of the living. How the hell could this be happening? I groaned and then threw up again.
Oh, God. What the hell was happening to me?
Chapter 4
After I got home, I looked in the bathroom for something to calm my stomach. While I was looking, I saw something that made me freeze. I checked my phone for the date and it was like the floor fell out from underneath me. I was late. Never in my life had I been late for my period. I grabbed my purse and keys and quickly went to the drugstore outside of town, so that I could avoid anyone seeing me. Nobody could know this right now.
I bought ten tests and a bottle of water. I paid and then rushed home, drinking the entire bottle of water on my way. Once I arrived, I ran to my bathroom upstairs, and took all of the tests. Then I waited ten minutes, and I swear they were the longest ten minutes of my life. While I waited, I thought. What would I do if I was pregnant? I immediately ruled out abortion, and I knew that I wasn't strong enough for adoption. So I guess that means that I really don't have a choice. If I was pregnant, I was keeping the baby.
I was so wrapped up in my thoughts; I didn't even realize that it had been 20 minutes. I jumped up and looked at the tests.
They were all positive.
Oh, God. I'm pregnant.
How was I pregnant? I thought we used condoms every time. Wait! The last time we ran out of condoms and he said he pulled out in time. Why the hell was I so stupid? Why did I listen to him? Oh god, I'm an idiot.
How was I going to tell Jenna? Should I tell Damon? Oh, God, Damon! He doesn't even know me. He probably doesn't even know that we go to the same school, how the hell would he handle having a kid with me? Not that I expected him to do anything.
No, I won't tell him. First things first, I needed to go to the doctor and really confirm this. I had no intention of telling Jenna yet. She will have to wait, and so will Jeremy. I can't handle their reactions. What would happen? Hopefully Jenna would be okay after getting the initial shock of finding out that her 16 year old niece was pregnant. This was not going to be easy.
Chapter 5
I decided to go to the free clinic the next day after school. So, I told Caroline that I was going to drive myself to school, saying that I was going to a check-up after school since I had thrown up all day the day before. She was fine with it and suspected nothing.
All day during school, even though I was trying to act normal, I just couldn't. After a month of not seeing Damon in the halls, I now saw him all of the time. He was everywhere that I looked. Luckily, he did not see me. I don't think that I could have handled that, him seeing me. Every time that I saw him, he was surrounded by people, clearly popular. I, on the other hand, was avoiding my two best friends and anyone else that tried to talk to me.
As I was walking towards my car at the end of the day, I ran into someone. When I looked up, I saw Damon. He had this wide-eyed stare when he recognized who I was. Oh, shit. He knew who I was, and this was not going to go well.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't Mystery Girl," He said with the same smirk from when we first met.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't football star Damon Salvatore. Look, I have to go. Can we not do this?"
"NO, we need to do this. We meet, we have sex multiple times, and then when I wake up, you are gone. We need to talk."
"No, we really don't."
I tried to rush past him, but being the damn football star that he is, he blocked me. Damn it! Why couldn't he just let me leave?
"What the hell do we have to talk about? You just said what happened. We met, had sex, then I went home. There is no point in talking about it! Now, I really have to go, so goodbye."
I brushed past him, practically running to my car, when he called out to me.
"At least tell me your name! You should give me that much."
"My name is Elena, now goodbye Damon!"
Chapter 6
"Well, Miss Gilbert, you are definitely pregnant," Said Dr. Fell. "Now, we need to get you started on prenatal vitamins. You are about six weeks along. Congratulations. Where is the father?"
"Not in the picture," I said, ignoring the judgment in her eyes.
We went over a few more things, making another appointment for 2 weeks.
When I got home, I decided that it was time to tell Jenna. I waited for her and Jeremy to get home, snacking on carrots and doing homework while I waited. Finally, a little while after I was done, they got home. Apparently they had gone to a guidance counsellor meeting for Jeremy, since he was a senior and was working on the whole college thing.
"Hey Lena, how was school?"
"Um, it was fine. Can I talk to you guys?"
"Sure"
"Sit down."
They sat down, giving me looks like I was crazy, and who knows, maybe I am.
"Look, guys, I have something to tell you," I took a deep breath," I'm pregnant."
They were completely silent for a few minutes, and then all hell broke loose.
"What the hell Lena! How could you be pregnant! You aren't even dating anyone!"
"Who the hell is the father!?" Jeremy said.
"Look, I'm not telling you who the father is, and I'm sorry. I know that both of you are disappointed, but I'm keeping the baby."
They just looked at me, and then Jenna spoke.
"Elena, if you keep that baby, you cannot live here. I can't deal with you having a baby, and you cannot deal with having a baby. You are almost 17, a junior in high school, and now you think that you can be a mom? No. Now get rid of it or pack a bag and get out!"
"I'm sorry Jenna, and I love both of you. Goodbye," I ran up to my room with tears in my eyes. I packed up as many clothes as I could, toiletries, my emergency cash, and electronic with their respective chargers.
I was almost out of the house when Jeremy stopped me.
"Lena, you know that I love you, and I will try to calm her down. Here take this," he said as he handed me an envelope. I looked inside and was shocked.
"Jer. Where did you get all of this money?"
"It doesn't matter, just take it and be safe. I love you."
"I love you too."
I quickly ran out to my car, and left the house. I drove around until I ended up the parking lot behind The Grill. I parked my car and went inside, taking my phone with me so that I could charge it. I stayed as long as I could, ordering a salad so that they wouldn't kick me out, occasionally going to the bathroom to do different things, like brush my teeth and wash my face. I stayed until closing, and then went out to my car, which was blocked by the dumpsters. I had set the alarm on my phone while I was inside charging it, so that I could wake up in time to get to school early and put on my make-up, so that nobody would know about me sleeping in my car.
I was so exhausted from the emotional stress from the day that I fell asleep quickly. I wasn't cold thanks to the blanket that I had shoved in my bag, and the pillow that I already had in my car made it more comfortable too.
It seemed like no time at all when my phone alarm went off. I quickly woke up, changed in my back seat, and drove over to the school.
I immediately went to the bathroom and got ready, and then I went to get my stuff for the school day.
Since I had told Caroline that I was driving myself for a while, she thought that I was mad at her, no matter how many times I told her that I was not mad, and since I wouldn't tell her why I was driving myself, she was not happy with me. So I spent the day being completely ignored by my friends since they knew I was keeping something from them, and trying t o avoid Damon, whom I was still seeing everywhere. Luckily, I was really good at avoiding him, and managed to have a Damon confrontation free day.
My routine of deception was going pretty well, you know, aside from the whole, homeless, living out of a car thing. I was able to get a job waitressing at the grill, which went well for me, since I was there every day. I was saving everything that I could for the baby, only buying gas and food, which I now got for free since I worked there.
It had been three weeks since my first doctor's appointment. I went last week and everything was good. While I was currently lonely, I was doing pretty well.
I had closed up the Grill after getting ready to go to sleep (another perk of working there), and was lying down in the backseat of my car when I heard a knock.
Oh shit.
My stomach clenched as I went to see who had knocked on my windshield.
It was Damon. Of all of the people in this town, it had to be Damon.
"Elena, why the hell are you sleeping in your car?"
Chapter 7
"Damon, what I do is none of your business, so why don't you just-,"I stopped, all of the sudden needing to get sick.
I ran out of the car, going behind it to throw up so that he couldn't see me.
When I was done, I went to the other side of the car and looked at him.
"Elena, are you okay?"
"I'm fine, now leave me alone."
"Elena-"
"Just go Damon!"
"Fine, I'll see you tomorrow." I could see from his expression that he was going to insist that we talk about this.
The next day, I was anxious about talking to Damon. I had no clue what to tell him. I was so busy worrying about Damon, I didn't notice him come up to me.
"Elena," he said, snapping me out of my thoughts.
"What do you want?"
"You know what I want to talk to you about. Why the hell are you sleeping in your car?"
Well, I guess I'll have to tell him. I can't handle another secret. Damn it.
"Find me after school. We can talk then. I have to go."
I did not say that that I couldn't put off telling him until later.
"Fine you can expect me to see you right after school."
After that, the day sped by, and I was not okay with that.
After school, I tried to leave before he could find me, but of course that didn't work. He was waiting at my car when I got to it. Damn him.
"Talk. Now." He demanded.
"Fine, but I only have a few minutes, and then I have to get to work. What do you want to know?"
"How many times have you slept in your car?"
"Three weeks."
"Why are you sleeping in your car?"
I took a deep, steadying breath.
"My aunt kicked me out when she found out I was pregnant and I refused to get rid of the baby."
"Whose is it?"
"Yours."
As soon as I said the word yours, he froze, and I and to throw up again.
Once I was done, I looked back at him. He still hadn't moved. Then he spoke.
"How? We used a condom every ti-, oh god, the last time, we ran out of condoms, and I tried to pull out in time. I thought I did."
"I have to go to work now."
He started to move off of my car, a dazed expression on his face. As I was getting into my car, I knew that there was something that I still needed to say.
"You know, I don't expect you to do anything. In fact, you can just forget that this baby exists. I don't expect anything from you. So just forget about all of this. Okay? Well, I have to go now. Goodbye Damon."
I hurriedly got into my car and started driving away. As I looked into my rear-view mirror, I could no longer see him. I felt a small pang of disappointment, and I couldn't figure out why. Whatever, I had to get to work.
Chapter 8
After work that night, as I was about to get into my car, I felt a hand on my shoulder.
"Damon, I-,"
A hand clapped over my mouth and I smelled alcohol. I tried to scream, but the hand tightened on my mouth, an arm wrapping around my mid-section.
I struggled, trying to get free. I tried and tried, but my assailant was stronger than me, and I was trying to keep my baby as protected as possible. I was being dragged away from the Grill, never seeing the guy's face, when all of the sudden I fell to the ground, and I heard the sounds of a struggle behind me. I turned around and saw Damon, of all people, fighting a guy that I did not know.
When the guy was unconscious, Damon turned to me. He had blood splattered all over him.
"Are you okay?" I asked him.
"Me? Am I okay? I'm not the one that was attacked. Are you okay?"
"I'm f-," I turned my head and threw up in the middle of saying that I was fine. Yeah, that is not helping my case.
"Elena, you are not fine. Look, my parents are out of town for a few months, and my brother is off on some road trip with some friends. Why don't you stay with me for a few days? We need to talk anyway.
Still shaken up from the attack, and still feeling like crap from just throwing up, and having not slept in a bed in a while, I agreed, obviously shocking him. He must have decided that it would be safer not to question me and just went with it.
I was silent as he told me just follow him to his house. On the way to his house, I wondered why he was there to begin with. Maybe he wanted to talk, I don't know. I decided to ask him as soon as we arrived.
After ten minutes, we arrived at his house. It was very large, and looked beautiful. What the hell had I gotten myself into?
We walked into the house and I was again struck by how in over my head I was, seeing the extravagance of his house.
"Come on, I'll show you to a room," he said.
"Wait. Damon, why were you there tonight?"
"I needed to talk to you, and I thought I would wait until everyone else was gone so that we wouldn't make a scene.
"Okay. So I guess you should show me to a room now."
We went upstairs when I suddenly thought of something.
"Can I take a shower? If that is okay, anyway."
"Sure. Where were you showering before?"
"Don't worry about it."
"Okay well here is your room, and there is a private bathroom in there, so you can just shower in there."
"Thank you. I guess we can talk tomorrow."
"Yeah, I'll see you in the morning. Good night Elena."
"Goodnight Damon."
I showered and changed, and then I went to bed. As soon as I my head hit the pillow, I fell asleep, immediately surrounded by the comfort of a real bed.
"Elena! Elena! Wake up!"
I shot up, drenched in sweat. I looked around in a panic, my breathing heavy.
Damon was sitting on the bed next to me, looking like he was terrified. My heart-rate instantly calmed down at the sight of him, my panic easing.
"What?"
"Elena, you were screaming in your sleep. Are you okay?"
Suddenly my nightmare came rushing back to me. The feel of that guy's hands over me, not being able to get enough air, being terrified for the life of my baby. It was too much, and all of the sudden, I was crying. Damon, immediately put his arm around my, and I cried into his chest, which I had just realized was bare.
I cried for a few minutes, allowing Damon to comfort me, needing him to do so. After I was done, I pulled back and looked at him.
"Will you be okay tonight?" He asked.
"Will you stay with me? Please, just for tonight."
"Of course I will. Just lie back down and we can go to sleep."
"Okay. Thank you Damon," I said, truly grateful for him staying, not wanting to be alone tonight.
"Of course Elena, you're welcome."
I lay down and so did he. He kept me close to him, comforting me, making sleep possible, without the bad dreams.
Chapter 9
When I woke up, sunlight was streaming across my face, and I was pressed against a warm body. After a few seconds, I remembered what happened, and immediately jumped out of bed to throw up. Whether from morning sickness or the memory of what happened, I had no clue.
When I was done, I turned around and saw Damon looking at me with a worried expression on his face.
"Does that happen a lot?"
"Yeah, pretty much every day. Pregnancy does that to you. That and constant hunger."
"Well then, how about we get some breakfast, and then we can talk."
"Sure." I said, feeling awkward about all of this.
We went downstairs and I saw his amazing kitchen, full of top of the line appliances and so much room, if I could pick my dream kitchen, this would be it, even if I have absolutely zero cooking ability.
"Just whatever you are having is fine."
"Strawberry pancakes okay?"
"Yeah, that sounds fine."
While he started to make the pancakes, I sat down, waiting for him to start talking.
"So are you just going to stare at me all day, or are you going to say something?"
"I'm just waiting for you to say what you've wanted to say since you came to see me last night."
"Why don't we start with, how are you?"
"I'm fine. I mean, I'm homeless, pregnant, living in my car, got attacked last night, and I have to go to the doctors next week alone which sucks because I am currently afraid of being alone due to the fact that every time I am I start panicking at the thought of the guy from last night! Even the thought of being alone freaks me out, because all I can see and think about is last night, and how the baby could've been hurt, and I just-," I stopped and started crying, letting all of my pent up emotions from these last few weeks out in those gut wrenching sobs, the kind that shake your whole body and tire you out completely.
Suddenly, I felt strong arms wrap around me, and I leaned into them, needing them to make me feel safe, like I haven't since I still lived with Jenna. I miss her so much, and I miss being at home, I still see Jeremy at school and that's great, but I miss being with the only remaining family that I have.
I cried even harder.
"Hey, hey, it will be okay"
"No it won't! How am I supposed to do this? Raise a baby; I don't even have a home. Where am I supposed to put a baby?" I continued to cry in to Damon's chest, feeling completely awful about my life.
"Elena, why don't you just stay here with me? I wanted to talk to you about this anyway. I want to be a part of the baby's life, and you don't have to go through this alone. I will be here every step of the way. "
"I can't ask you to do that Damon. You don't even know me. I mean why would you want to be tied to me for the next 18 years, minimum? I don't want you to feel like I'm trapping you, because that is not what I'm trying to do. I just can't not have this baby."
"I don't think that you are trying to trap me. You didn't even know me when you decided to have this baby, or even when we made this baby. But we did, make this baby, and I want to be in its life."
"If I accept your offer, then it is only temporary. I will do something to find somewhere to stay, I mean, What about your brother? Or your parents? They probably don't even want a pregnant girl living in their house for any length of time. Especially on that they do not even know! What am I saying I shouldn't stay here; I should just go back to my car and deal with being alone. Yeah, I should do that because I shouldn't burden any-," he abruptly stopped me by putting a pancake in my mouth. I was hungry, and it tasted really good, so I stopped talking and ate it.
"Elena, you are not a burden, my parents won't be back for a while and my mom will probably jump for joy at the thought of a grandchild, and my dad will do anything that makes her happy. Stefan is rarely home and probably wouldn't mind a niece or nephew, so stop worrying about that. And, if you want you can stay here just temporarily, but since I plan on being very involved in this baby's life, so it would just make everything easier if you accepted my help and stayed here and just calmed down."
"Damon, thank you, but how am I supposed to calm down when I am pregnant? I can't live here for the next 18 years, and I seriously doubt anyone wants me to. Look, Damon, I really do appreciate this, but do you really want to be tied to me with a kid? Not to mention the fact that I am an emotional mess. Why should you have to deal with that? You don't even know me."
"Look at me. You should calm down because I want to help you. Not to mention that despite the fact that you are possibly psychotic, you seem like you could be really fun. I mean, think about how we met. Look, why don't we get to know each other? I would really like to know you, and I hope that now you will actually want to get to know me."
"Okay."
"Okay? Really?"
"Yeah, just don't make me regret this."
The rest of the day involved getting to know you questions and me doing laundry. It wasn't really an option at the Grill, so now I had a lot to do, and Damon was more than happy to let me do my laundry. I think that, for some reason, he was just happy that I agreed to stay.
It turns out that Damon is a really great guy, and that the night we met was the first time that he had actually tried to pick up anyone (apparently women just threw themselves at him normally, because I mean look at him, who wouldn't?) since he had just broken up with his long-time girlfriend of 2 years, Katherine. I'd met her in school once, briefly, and I had no desire to talk to her ever again. She was a bitch. I didn't tell him that of course.
I told him about my parents, how I used to be before they died, how I was afterward, why I was in the bar that night. It was so easy to talk to him, and I realized exactly how alone I'd been since Jenna had kicked me out and I refused to tell my friends about my pregnancy.
"Damon, should we tell people?" I asked while folding some of my clothes.
"Do you want to?"
"I don't know. I just feel like we should get it over with. I mean if you don't want people to know that you are involved that's fine, but I really don't have a choice. I just didn't know what you would prefer."
"Elena, I am fine with people knowing that I am the father, but are you sure that you're ready? There is no rush."
I contemplated this before answering.
"Yeah, I guess I should tell them, it's just going to suck."
"Well you will have me there every step of the way, so you won't be alone."
"I'll tell them Monday. I guess I should start with Caroline and Bonnie, since they are only mad at me because they know that I've been hiding something and won't tell them."
"Okay, so what else do you want to do today?"
"I have to work from 2 until closing at the Grill, so I'll just do homework until my laundry is done, then change and leave."
"Will you be okay by yourself? You know, going back?"
"I don't really have a choice do I? I have to make money for the baby, and that involves a job. SO what if I'm terrified? There is nothing that I can do about that right now."
"How about I go with you today? I have my own homework to get done, and I can do it there. Then I can just hang out, read a book or something, and wait until you get done."
"Would you really do that? Are you sure? You know that you don't have to do anything that you don't want to do, so you don't need to."
"Elena, I'm sure."
I took a deep breath.
"Okay."